Gyroscope top



Jan. 10, 1950 L. SANDERS ETAL GYROSCOPE TOP Filed May 9. 1946 ATTO R N EY Patented Jan. 10,1950

umrso ESTATES PATENT OFF-ICE GYROSCOPE TOP Louis Sanders, Clifton, and Chester Pail,

Garfield, N. J.

Application May 9, 1946 Serial No. 668,435

3 Claims.

This invention relates generally to the field r, to'ysand more, particularly to .an improved gyroscope. spinning top.

While topso-f this. general character are well known they have been of faulty construction when manufactured. to sell at a low price or theyfhave been. relatively expensive where the parts have been properly balanced.

It .isamong the objects of the present invention to producea gyroscope spinning toy which.

maybe. manufactured in large quantity .at low cost and yet- 1s substantially constructed and.

properly balanced so as .to give'the performance (ifheretofore .r'nore expensively manufactured tops.

In toyspinn'ing .tops of the character described .gyroscop'ic action isob'ta'ined by spinning a fiywheel at a relatively high speed. The fly-wheel has .beenecaused to rotate .by anchoring the end ofa an rific in the .mainlshaft. This construction is open to the objection of requiring greama ski-llgin the. starting of the winding of the upon-=themain shaft and of having a'retarding effect upon the return of the main shaft and fly-wheel atfthe instantthat the string becomes disengaged from the orifice .in the main shaft. 'It is therefore another object .inthe pres ent invention toprovide an improved means of engaging and winding a string upon the main shaft of the top.

.A fen/tine \of the present invention lies in the fact that after the string has been properly engaged upon the main shaft the top may be manually grasped between the upper and lower tips thereof and rotation of the fly-wheel will result in a winding of the string.

Heretofore the fly-wheels of tops of the character'described have been principally fabricated by casting with resultant imbalance of the flywheel owing to uneven casting.

Where the casting operation has been carefully performed to produce balance or where the flywheels have been fully machined a relatively expensive top has been produced. In accordance with the present invention the fly-wheel is produced by stamping, that is to say, blanking and forming the fly-wheel from sheet-metal which has been previously rolled so as to have relatively uniform thickness and density.

These objects and other incidental ends and advantages will more fully appear in the progress of this disclosure and be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings in which similar refer- 'In accordance with theinvent'ion the gyroscope.

top generally indicated by reference character i0 comprises broadly a vertical frame element II 'I, a horizontal frame element 1'2, an upper tip IS, a lower tip. and a rotor f5.

Thevehticalframeelement H is preferably circularand may be formed by. bending a rod.-.

shaped blank to the ,shapeshown .and joining the ends IB'and 11 in any suitable manner as by soldering or welding. At the uppermost pore tion ill the frame element is provided with an upper dpwnwardly opening socket 1'9 and at the lowermost portion 21] (frame element H is pro.-

vided with a lower upwardly opening socket 2|..

The upperjtip Il3 has the lowermost surface 2'2"thereof curved to conform to the upper surface of the vertical ,(frame element II and is secured thereto in any suitable manner as by soldering or welding coaxially with the'longitu dinal axis of the rotor l5. The terminal 23 of the tip [3 is provided with a groove 24 which is parallel to the plane of the frame I l.

The lower tip I4 has the uppermost surface 25 thereof curved to comform to the lower surface of the lowermost portion 20 of the vertical frame element l I and is secured thereto in any suitable manner as by soldering or welding so that said tip I4 is coaxially positioned with respect to the longitudinal axis of the rotor I5. The terminal 26 has an upwardly extending cup shaped depression 21.

The horizontal frame element I2 is preferably in circular form and the internal effective diamv eter thereof is preferably substantially equal to or slightly greater than the effective external diameter of the frame element H. The horizontal frame element is preferably secured to the vertical frame element at opposed points which are substantially equi-distant from the sockets l9 and 2|.

The rotor l5 includes a main shaft an upon which is secured the fly-wheel 3|. The shaft 30 40 so that it has a central planar portion 4|, an a integral collar 42, a circularly upwardly extending hollow bead 43 and a downwardly extending flange 44 which is spaced and parallel with respect to the surface 32 of the shaft 30. The collar 42 preferably has an effective internal diameter Owing to the fact that the end 45 of the string 38 is not engaged within a hole as in prior art devices, at the end of the unwinding operation during which the fly-wheel is gaining momentum the string is quickly released by the shaft 30. The means 31 being placed close to the fiy-wheel 3| and within the frame element ll applies the rotative force efficiently and conveniently and enables the user to grasp any of the. exterior portions of the topwithout interfering with the unwinding of the string or the rotation of the fly-wheel and shaft.

We wish it to be understood that we do not a desire to be limited to the exact details of conwhich is subustantially equal to or slightly less than the effective external diameter of the main shaft 30 to that said collar may be a force fit upon said shaft. To further secure the fly-wheel upon the main shaft, the fly-wheel may be welded, soldered, or pinned in place upon said shaft. .By forming the fly-wheel from the blank 40 which is of uniform thickness, the uniformity of the flywheel, that is to sa its static and dynamic balance is maintained within satisfactory tolerances. The formation of the bead 43 and the flange 44 places a substantial proportion of the total weight of the fly-wheel at its periphery thereby increasing the fly-wheel efiect thereof. The greatest external diameter of the fly-wheel is substantially less than the internal diameter of the frame element H so that the fly-wheel may be rapidly rotated without interference by said frame.

The operation of the top is a simple and convenient matter. The inner terminal of the string 38 is laid upon the means 31 and a few windings of the string or conversely a few revolutions of the shaft 32 will produce the winding 46. The desired number of windings are placed thereupon. The frameelements H or 12 are preferably manually grasped and the string 38 is pulled away rapidly in the direction of the arrow 41. This stores I kinetic energy in the shaft 30 and the fly-wheel 3| whereupon the gyroscope top l0 may be utilized iii several well known manners. The top may be placed upon a point not shown by inserting said point into the depression 21. The to may, on the other hand, be so placed as to ride a string or edge (not shown) by placing said string or edge in the groove 24.

str-uction shown and described for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. A- gyroscopic top for use with a winding cord com-prising: a stationary frame; a rotor including a fly-wheel and a shaft; means for rotatably mounting said rotor upon saidframe; said shaft having means thereon for frictionall engaging said winding said last mentioned means consist-' ing of knurling on said shaft cord; said fly-wheel being formed from a planar blank of sheet.

material.

2L Gyroscopic top construction comprising; a:

frame element; a rotor trunnioned in said frame element; said rotor including a shaft and a flywheel secured'theret said fly-wheel being composed of sheet material and having an integral which is spaced andparallel'with respect to the peripheral flange which is spaced and parallel with respect to the outer surfaces of said shaft.

3. Gyroscopic topconstruction comprising: a

frame element; a rotor trunnioned in said frame element; said rotor including ashaft and a flywheel secured thereto, said flywh'eel being co mposed of sheet material and having a central" planar portion, a circular upwardly extending,

hollow bead, and a downwardly extending'flange outer surface of said shaft.

LOUIS SANDERS.

CHESTER PAFF. REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe' file of this patent:'

' 'UNITED STATESIPATENTS Date 

